quote:

Originally posted by DJ Shibby Now that 8080s are down to $200 I'm thinking of getting a second one...

with $200 you should better get massive or something similiar. the soundquality is far better.

JP is phat as hell, i havent heard any synth, especially software sounding so rich, especially on the lower notes.

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agree that JP sound is great, its kinda warm anc crispy cold at the same time, and distortion and vocoder on JP8080 is also GREAT but the interface is just trash so I got rid of mine. im left with virus rack xl and waldorf microQ. not getting anything else for a long time.

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Originally posted by alanzo So, I've realized recently that I've owned A LOT of VA hardware synthesizers in my day. Here is the complete list in chronological order: Novation A-Station, Access Virus Rack, JP-8000, Virus|Powercore, Nord Lead 1, Novation Supernova II, Access Virus B, Access Virus XL, Nord Lead 3, Access Virus Classic, Access Virus TI. It also occurred to me that some might like to know what I thought of each one... so here they all are in order of most to least favorite: 1. Access Virus series--TI is preferred, but from the B on up, they're all great 2. Nord Lead 3--Definitely the best sounding and the FM, Unison, and Stack capabilities are EPICLY awesome... but the Virus beats it out for virtual instrument integration and its wide range of sonic capabilities. 3. Novation Supernova II--It's a synth that many love to hate... i hated its cheap sound.. but it could still do some really nice plucks. 4. JP-8000--SUPERSAW!!!... but that's about it. The synth is kind of useless for anything else. Its lack of variable unison is VERY limiting. Note that the JP-8080 does have UNISON, more voices, and a distortion effect. If you must get one of the two, go with the JP8080... but I still think the sound of the JP80x0 is dated... any modern VA can run circles around it. 5. Nord Lead 1--Sounds pretty good.. but it has such a limited range of sounds it can make. 6. Novation A/K/X-Station--Avoid at all costs - Novation's V-Station sounds 100% IDENTICAL to all three of them and is 5x easier to use, cheaper, and just as awful sounding. I've posted samples of all of these instruments throughout this thread : http://www.audiopioneers.net/forum/showthread.php?t=641 What do I own right now and why? I only own an Access Virus TI. In nearly every way it's all you need. Absolutely the best synthesizer I've ever owned. It's so quick to use and it can emulate every synthesizer sound you've ever heard and sound great doing it. What's on my list for the future? I'd like to get a Nord Lead 3 again as well as dive into the world of "modern" analog synths. That is, digitally controlled analog oscillators... namely the Prophet 08 and Alesis Andromeda (all 50 hulking lbs of it). I think I'll wait on Moog to replace the Voyager. The upcoming Waldorf Stromberg looks pretty awesome, too. Any synths that I'm disappointed with? YES! The Nord Wave is a $3,000 disappointment. I'm sure it's WAV capabilities are great but they took out the BEST innovations of the Nord Lead 3... namely the Unison/Stack and the NL3's awesome knob interface. At least they kept the NL3's great FM synthesis but they completely ditched the Unison/Stack. It's as if they took the schematics for the NL2, threw in the WAV osc, grabbed the FM from the NL3 and replaced Unison with shitty onboard FX. Lame. Well, that's it... I would have put this only on my blog, but no one reads it.

Nice summary, alonzo. I'll throw out some of my thoughts here as well, but I won't bore you with all the synths I've owned since I started buying hardware synths back in the early 80s (yeah, I'm an old fart), just the recent ones. My current hardware lineup consists of:

1) Access Virus Polar TI – I heart it. Greatest synth I’ve ever owned.

2) Nord Rack 2X - very gritty; awesome synth.

3) Novation Supernova - great synth, but I just don't use it that much for some reason. I’ve got the SNI with 20 voices (i.e., not the expanded version).

4) Roland JV1080 - my indispensable workhorse for traditional sounds and it's maxed out with expansions (Sound FX, Dance, Techno, Orchestra I). But, it’s a bitch to program, so I pretty much just use it as a preset machine – fortunately, the presets all sound pretty good.

5) Alesis QS8.2 – 88 weighted keys - I primarily use this as a MIDI controller, but also when I just want to plunk around on a piano - it's actually my primary compositional tool when I first start a song.

I've also got a couple of old Roland modules (JV880 and U110) that I took on trade and I never used - they'll go on eBay someday soon.

About a year and a half ago I had 12 synths in my arsenal, including a few E-mu romplers (Orbit 3, XL7) and samplers, and some Novations (A-Station, X-Station), and a Virus Rack XL, but I finally decided to get rid of a bunch of them and replace them with the Polar – smartest move I ever made.

The Nord 2X is my second favorite. I just love the nasty and gritty sounds you can get out of the NLs. I’ve owned the NL1, NL2, and now the 2X, but I’ve never owned a NL3 (yet) or Wave. I’ve been considering buying a Nord 3 for a while now. There are a lot of features on the NL3 that look very interesting to me – particularly the improved screen, the LEDs on the knobs indicating the settings, the stack function, the arp, and the advanced FM capabilities – but, I’ve also heard that the NL3 lacks a lot of the sonic character of the earlier Leads. The Wave looked pretty intriguing to me when it was first announced, but like alanzo, I’ve become very underwhelmed by it since and I don’t see how the hell they can justify a nearly $3K street price for it.

I have to agree with alonzo regarding the JP8000/8080 – aside from “that” sound, they’ve always just sounded very bland to me compared to the competition. But, I have to disagree with him on the Novation A-Stations – I’ve owned two of them and they are pretty cool and powerful synths for not much money. Their biggest limitation was that annoying little 2-digit LED screen, which made programming a bit annoying.

Surprisingly, I’ve never owned a Waldorf, but my buddy has a Q (the blue keyboard version) and he left it at my house over a month ago. That thing is a beast – if I had the space for it, I don’t think I’d give it back to him.

Well, enough of my rambling. I think that my next move is going to be to buy a Nord 3 and keep both the 2X and 3 for a while until I decide which one I like best, then sell the other one and my Supernova and pick up a Dave Smith Prophet 08 Rack – that synth just looks/sounds sick! I think that a Polar TI, Prophet 08, Nord 2X or 3 and my JV1080 will keep me pretty happy for a long time

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Last edited by cryophonik on Apr-26-2008 at 04:17

Who's used an Alesis Andromeda A6? My dream synth and I'd like to hear general thoughts on it.

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Crossposted from the studio pics topic my answer would be: Beyer has.
Maybe you should PM him for more info .

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Originally posted by Beyer We have to keep this thread alive.. I haven´t posted a pic yet, so here goes. I moved into a new house last year, and haven´t been able to get things organized properly. And the only acoustic treatment I have so far are two small bass traps in the front of the room, and large one in the back. I´m planning on doing some extensive work to this room later this year, so I´ll post a pic when I´ve done that. btw, sorry for the crap quality.. It´s taken with my mobile cam.

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If less is more think about how much more more would be. -Frasier

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Originally posted by cryophonik Well, enough of my rambling. I think that my next move is going to be to buy a Nord 3 and keep both the 2X and 3 for a while until I decide which one I like best, then sell the other one and my Supernova and pick up a Dave Smith Prophet 08 Rack – that synth just looks/sounds sick! I think that a Polar TI, Prophet 08, Nord 2X or 3 and my JV1080 will keep me pretty happy for a long time

i had the nord rack 3 and its a beast, specialy with FM, but somehow the sound is abit "wet?" compared to 2x, 2x seems so rock solid. just stick with it.

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Originally posted by palm i had the nord rack 3 and its a beast, specialy with FM, but somehow the sound is abit "wet?" compared to 2x, 2x seems so rock solid. just stick with it.

They're practically two different instruments. The NL2 is pretty cheap in comparison, so you might as well have both.

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Nice posts. I'm pondering selling the Motif ES8 and replacing it with a TI Polar... good to know it received high marks here. I'm just sure I'm going to miss a full size keyboard (and I love how the keys feel), and the Motif has some piano, effects, guitars, arps, and bass sounds that I love. Messing around with the Polar at GC, though, I need some synths like that! And I can't afford it without offsetting some of the cost... The rest of the sounds on the Motif are too diverse, though - because it (obviously) wasn't made specifically for EDM producers.

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Originally posted by Fledz Who's used an Alesis Andromeda A6? My dream synth and I'd like to hear general thoughts on it.

I didn't like it at all. It's impossible to program on it. The knobs are extremely sensitive responding to smallest movement which makes it impossible fine-tuning a parameter. I don't know if it's fixed in a OS or whether an editor is aviable to deal with it in the meantime?

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Originally posted by Timothy I didn't like it at all. It's impossible to program on it. The knobs are extremely sensitive responding to smallest movement which makes it impossible fine-tuning a parameter. I don't know if it's fixed in a OS or whether an editor is aviable to deal with it in the meantime?

It's really hard to fine tune the settings, that's a definite drawback. I have been really annoyed by this, but it's one of those quirks that give this beast it's charm - if you will. I usually tweak by ear, not by eye - and most of the times I don't need to have an EXACT value, so a close setting usually does it.

There's no editor, as far as I know of that will make you be able to fine tune it via your computer, and as far as OS goes - there will never be an update I'm afraid.

It's got it's flaws, and problems - but in the end it's the sounds that matter the most imo. And I think it's got a beautiful tone. It can be what you want it to be.

I have only had mine for a few months, and haven't had the time to really dig into the capabilities yet. But it's vast, and complex. Yet, it's layout is quite intuitive I think.

Many people tend to compare it to the older analogs, like prophet and moog. But it's not fair imo, as it never was meant to be a new moog or a jupiter. It's got it's own sound, and either you like it or you don't. Some say it's not as "analog" sounding as a moog, but I just don't get that. It IS 100% analog signal path, and you don't buy a synth to get "analog" sound, you buy a synth for it's sound - may it be digital or analog. I heard demo samples from this, and saw pics of it, and just knew I had to have one.

I originally ordered a virus ti, but canceled at the last minute in favour of the andromeda. There is just something about it's sound that attracts me, making the ti sound pale in comparison IMO.

/rant